Mrugami
Development of Medaka Fish Eggs in Microgravity as Compared to Earth
Grade 7, Lincoln Hall Middle School
Principal Investigator: Mrugami Mahadik
Teacher Facilitator: Sharon Churchwell, NBCT, Science Teacher and Gifted Education Specialist
Proposal Summary:
This proposal is to study whether the development of fish eggs in space is similar to the development of fish eggs on Earth as a way to learn how microgravity affects egg development and cell growth. The main point of doing this proposal is to look at how living organisms begin to develop from a fertilized egg to embryo in microgravity. I want to know how the Japenese Medaka fish eggs that begin to develop in microgravity on the Shuttle will differ from the Medaka fish eggs that begin to develop in gravity on Earth in the Materials Dispersion Apparatus (MDA) of the ground truth experiment. The experiment will show the difference between the weight, quantity developed, and size of embryos and their organs for the eggs that developed in microgravity compared to the eggs that developed in the ground truth experiment in the MDA. I think that the embryos grown in microgravity will weigh less, and the organs will not grow normally because the fish would not be able to adjust itself to the microgravity so the organ development might be suppressed. The average mass and average area covered on a dissecting microscope field of view of the embryos in the Shuttle group and the ground truth group will each be compared to the healthy group to see the effects of the MDA on development. Then the Shuttle group will be compared to the ground truth group to see the effects of microgravity.
Austin & Shayne
Do antibiotics kill more germs in microgravity than in gravity?
Grade 8, Lincoln Hall Middle School
Co-Principal Investigators: Shayne Snyder and Austin Gonzalez
Teacher Facilitator: Sharon Churchwell, NBCT, Science Teacher and Gifted Education Specialist
Proposal Summary:
This experiment would test to see if germs can be killed by antibiotics in microgravity as easily as in gravity. In general there are more risks of infection when going up into space. Some studies have shown that bacteria grow faster in microgravity than in gravity on earth and also that living in microgravity may break down the astronauts immune system. The hypothesis for this experiment is if safe strands of E. coli are sent up into space with an antibiotic, then the strands will survive better in microgravity than in gravity on Earth. The procedure is for a well to be half filled with air and half filled with the nutrient broth and E. coli mixed in the MDA for space and in an identical MDA on earth. Then, it grows for ten days, one set in orbit and one on earth. The samples from orbit and from the “ground truth” experiment will be examined by looking at the cloudiness, a wet mount and dry mount of each sample, and by growing out some of the remaining sample on nutrient agar plates. The more cloudiness observed in the sample then the more the organisms have grown. This is compared to the test done on the cells on the ground. This will answer the question of do more E. coli survive in microgravity in space or on planet earth when an antibiotic is used.
